ill never understand why this guy is so polarizing. Its like if he succeeds some of you guys will have a collaspe in your bball belief systems. Gay has underachieved to a certain extent. James is more focused and has better playmaking skills. Gays ceiling is vince carter he still has time.
This is exactly what I think about Rudy Gay. He can be something if he becomes more focused on doing so.
Rudy Gay is physically not CLOSE to Vince Carter, and he also doesn't see the game the way that Vince does. Vince, just like Tracy, can do so many things with his court vision alone. Rudy Gay has a LONG way to go, to be anywhere close to either one of those guys. I would say it is impossible. Maybe Danny Granger.
I feel like Detroit is getting slept on in this deal. If they amnesty Villanueva, they're going to have something like 33 million dollars in cap space after Calderon expires. Couple that with the progress that Monroe and Drummond are making, the Pistons might actually be a team to watch.
Its ALWAYS about the money. A player gets a big contract, INTENSE SCRUTINY ALWAYS follows. You wouldnt think people would be so in tuned with what a player makes, but its an underlying factor. A while back I saw that it just seemed suspicious that certain players started getting more and more bad pub. Its usually - A player after their 3rd year or past their rookie contract after the "potential" label. + $10+ million + Shooting close to 40% + Team winning % at or under .500 = DEADWEIGHT albatross loser
It's hard to compare this season with last. We lost pretty much all of our core before the Harden trade (Lowry, Scola, Dalembert, Camby, Lee, Dragic) so it is fair to say that we would most likely have a lot worse record than we do now without the Harden trade.
Actually, given how much I hate this FA class and Dumar's record on free agents, I think that's a really bad thing for Detroit.
You know why, man. It's the same reason some people were in love with Battier and some people disliked him. It was just because of that trade. Everyone had to feel like they were justified in their take on it. If you were "meh" on either of them you'll get skewered here. When in reality their both more in the "meh" range than superstar or garbage player but that's what you here on this board. One is a great role player, spaces the floor and plays solid defense. The other is a versatile scorer. The money will cloud guys' minds on their on-court value but that trade had much more to do with the stupid bickering you see on this board.
Who cares what he could theoretically do under laboratory conditions when he doesn't really do it in games ? Would Rudy Gay have even tried to make this play? GIFSoup I have my doubts, but it basically crystallizes the difference between the two - Rudy Gay is content to be a midrange jumper specialist and Carter in his prime attacked the hoop with abandon. Not a lot of reason to think Gay will morph into Carter at this stage - even if Colangelo gives him a version of the "Tracy B. Agressive" pptx....
Rockets fans HATE on Rudy Gay just because they're too prideful to admit we should of never traded him. I'm not saying he's a max player, but dang some of you guys make him seem like a scrub. Get over it.
It's not "pride." I didn't make the trade, I had no "pride" on the line. I am glad though that we ended up not getting burned mostly due to the fact that he didn't turn into a superstar. I was vehemently against the trade when it first happened, then sort of moved into the ambivalent category. Most of the board was actually (I rmember Clutch's photoshop of Jerry West punching out Carroll Dawson...) As time goes on it becomes increasingly obvious that it was the right move; Battier gave the Rockets and their fragile superstars the best opportunity to "win now". Conversely, Gay tantalized with potential, has never fully delivered and is a really bad fit as both a role player or a franchise player, and has thus transformed himself into a money pit, resulting in Memphis finally cutting their losses and selling him for scrap after sinking in $50 million. EDIT: Here's my reaction to the Battier trade in 2006 - does this look like somebody who is invested in denying how good Rudy Gay turned out to be....or the opposite : http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?p=2380114&highlight=battier#post2380114 Other shameful admission - DaDakota's post in that thread in support of the Battier trade was actually correct in hindsight and a more level-headed view than the rest of us.
Would you agree that thus far Rudy Gay has not been close to prime Vince Carter? How many players after 7 seasons make a massive improvement in their game, especially when injuries, playing time and substance abuse has not been an issue? Gay may become a better player in Toronto. He will get a chance to get more easy baskets, and defense will not be as important, so his statistics may improve.... but prime Carter? That seems a stretch.
This. I was against the trade as well, and believed that Gay had the physical skill set to be a very good player. However, as the seasons passed, it became obvious that Gay was not a special player.
tell me where I said he has played on vince's level. I have stated he has underachieved, some of you guys argue just to argue. vince carter is his ceiling
I'm going to propose a signature bet that rudy gay increases his average for the rest of the season to 23 points in Toronto for starters.
I didn't say that you said he has/is playing on Vince's prime level. My response was to you saying Gay still has time to reach his potential, of Vince Carter. I just do not see many 7th year veterans suddenly improve their game greatly, which is what Gay would need to do, to reach the level of Carter.
